A Nigerian, Joachim Iroko who was arrested in August, 2016 for naming his dog Buhari was just freed of all charges yesterday at the Magistrate Court sitted in Sango, Ogun state.
Haliru Umar from Sokoto State, neighbour of Mr. Iroki, accused that Mr. Iroko of breaching peace and having harmful motive for naming his dog the name ‘Buhari’ believed to be referred to the President of Nigeria.
Magistrate O. O. Adebo however nullifed the case claiming the prosecutor failed to substantiate his case against Joachim Iroko and consequently struck out all charges preferred against him.
The arrest of Mr. Iroko sparked nationwide outrage in August 2016 and critics accused the police of stifling constitutionally guaranteed freedom.
The presidency also reacted to the arrest when Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the president paid more attention to cartoon pages in the newspapers rather than following Mr. Iroko’s case that was generating nationwide furore at the time.
In ecstatic mood, the discharged and acquainted Joachim Iroko expressed gratitude for the support throughout his times of trials.
“I would like to thank specially, Vanguard Newspaper for blowing the case open and human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegborowa that came to my rescue” he stated.
